Looking for an all-woman marathon? That’s exactly what you’ll find at the Leading Ladies Marathon & Half Marathon that runs through Spearfish Canyon in the southwestern corner of South Dakota, along with a scenic, serene course that offers gorgeous views of mountains, waterfalls and the surrounding Black Hills area.
The race, which sees several hundred runners cross the finish line each year, is open only to women and the only men on the course are the ones manning the aid and refreshment stations, which for the half marathon lie largely along Spearfish Canyon Road as runners make their way north toward this small city just north of the region known as the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Starting at the half-way point of the full 26.2-mile marathon, the half-marathon begins just north of the town of Savoy, when the race course enters Little Spearfish Canyon and heads onto Spearfish Canyon Road, where it begins a series of turns and switchbacks as it makes its way northward.
Along the way, runners are treated to views of sights like Roughlock Falls, lots of limestone cliffs and forest lands along towering canyon walls, and the waters of Spearfish Creek, which follows the course throughout most of the rest of the race.
Don’t forget to stop or at least slow down to a walk as you pass through areas like Bridal Veil Falls (near the finish) and “the Dice,” a pair of massive boulders that rolled across Highway 14A and into the creek many years ago.
The half-marathon course is paved throughout and mostly downhill along 14A (also called the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway) to the finish line at Tretheway Pavilion in Spearfish City Park.
